2021 Successfully Transitioning to Autonomous Vertical Flight

Dr. Michael Leahy joined DARPA as director of the agency’s Tactical Technology Office in May 2019, marking his return to the agency, where he previously led the DARPA/U.S. Air Force Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle Program (X-45A) from conception through first flight. Most recently, he was the chief product officer for Dreamhammer Corporation, a startup technology company focused on monetizing their DoD heritage technologies and expertise for commercial markets. Before that, Leahy held a series of senior director leadership positions within Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems from technology maturation in support of major program captures to design, development and support of ground control stations for all their UAVs. Prior to joining Northrop Grumman in 2007, Leahy had a distinguished 27-year U.S. Air Force career retiring as a colonel. Over that span, Leahy made significant contributions to the advancement of aerospace technology and advanced systems. In addition to leading the X-45A effort with DARPA, he was a professor at the Air Force Institute of Technology; served as director of the Air Vehicles Directorate at the Air Force Research Laboratory; and served as vice director of the 448th Combat Sustainment Wing. Leahy earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of New Mexico, a master’s degree in national resource strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, and a doctorate in electrical engineering from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Leahy received the AIAA 2010 Hap Arnold Award for sustained excellence in aeronautical program management and the Association for Unmanned Systems International Pioneer Award. He was the National Society of Professional Engineers, USAF Engineer of the Year, Air Force Institute of Technology Outstanding Professor of the Year; has authored 48 refereed, international, journal, and conference publications; and was the founding editor of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine.

Major General Walter Rugen was born and raised in Onalaska, Wisconsin, and was commissioned through the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY in 1989. His first assignment was as an aviation platoon leader, Camp Page, Republic of Korea. In 1992, he was assigned to 9-101st Aviation Battalion (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where he served in a variety of positions and commanded B/9-101st. MG Rugen was then assigned to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), where he served as an MH-60K platoon leader and company operations officer in D/1-160 SOAR (A). From 2000-2002, he commanded D/160th SOAR (A) at Roosevelt Roads Naval Air Station, Puerto Rico and flew extensively in Central/South America and the Caribbean. In 2003, he transitioned to become the battalion operations officer for 3rd Battalion 160th SOAR (A) at Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia, where he deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. In 2005 he was assigned as a strategic plans officer in the J5 at the United States Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. In 2007, MG Rugen commanded 3rd Battalion, 160th Special Operation Aviation Regiment and again deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan. From 2009-2011, MG Rugen was assigned to the Army Staff in the aviation directorate at the Pentagon, where worked on multiple strategic issues affecting Army Aviation. In 2011, he was designated an Army Fellow and served at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC. From 2012-2014, he commanded the 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade in the Republic of Korea. He then transitioned back to the Pentagon where he became the Chief Army Aviation Force Development Division in the Army G8 from 2014- 2016. From 2016-2017, he served as the Director of Materiel in HQDA G8 before serving as the 7th Infantry Division Deputy Commanding General - Support at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington from 2017-2018. Currently, MG Rugen is the Director of U.S. Army Futures Command’s Future Vertical Lift Cross Functional Team, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. MG Rugen’s awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Medal with numeral 4, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal with bronze star, Afghanistan Campaign Medal (w/ 3 service stars), Iraq Campaign Medal (w/ 4 service stars), the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary and Service Medals, the Korean Defense Service Medal, the Combat Action Badge, the Master Aviator Badge, the Parachutist Badge, the Air Assault Badge, the Army Staff Badge and Dominican Republic Parachutist Badge. MG Rugen is married to the former Ms. Leigh Anne Boling and they have three wonderful children, Victoria, Jacob and Wesley.

Lt Col Tom Meagher, an active-duty Air Force Officer, leads the Prime Division for AFWERX, responsible for accelerating development and transition of dual-use technologies for the Department of the Air Force. A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, he has held positions in various fields, including aircraft operations, program management, and test and evaluation.

Dr. Sanjiv Singh is an innovator, educator, and entrepreneur. He is currently a Consulting Professor at the Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University and the CEO of Near Earth Autonomy, a start-up that develops autonomy for next-generation aircraft that will inspect infrastructure, deliver cargo, and transport people. He is the founding editor of the Journal of Field Robotics, a TEDx speaker, and a co-founder of four companies.

CEO & Founder of Daedalean, a Zürich-based startup developing flight control software for autonomous flight, with the eventual goal to create an AI pilot that will measurably outperform human pilots in all their functions. Currently, Daedalean is working with regulators, leading aerospace manufacturers and major eVTOL companies to test and certify the first Machine Learning based sensor systems for guidance, navigation and flight control. PhD in Physics (UvA, RuG), previously held Senior Software Engineering positions at Google Zürich and SpaceX, where he worked on infrastructure, flight software, and machine learning projects, among others.

Graham Warwick is Executive Editor for Technology at Aviation Week. A former aeronautical engineer, he has reported on the global aviation industry for more than 40 years.

Ajay is working with KBR as a Chief Engineer, Systems, at Patuxent River, Maryland. Among other responsibilities, he is providing technical and program management leadership, systems engineering, and mentoring support to US Navy and Marine Corps Multi-Mission Tactical UAS Program Office (PMA-266) leadership for the MQ-8B and MQ-8C Fire Scout, Cargo UAS, Marine Corps MUX, and other Science & Technology programs / projects. He is also the leader of the KBR Autonomy (previously Unmanned Systems) Community of Interest. Prior to coming to KBR (previously Wyle) in August 2009, he held various engineering and management positions with Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., AgustaWestlandBell Helicopter, and Robinson Helicopters. He has published several technical papers, hosted and participated in many technical panels and has received over a dozen U.S. and International patents in helicopter rotor systems and Unmanned Aircraft Systems.

Wes joined NASA in March of this year in their Aeronautics Research Institute (NARI) and is working in the areas of automation, and practical implementation of AI/ML for aviation purposes. He is also supporting NASA’s Convergent Aeronautics Solutions program to identify paths to future transformational aeronautics concepts for hybrid/electric aircraft and digital operational integration capabilities. Prior to NASA, Wes was with the FAA for 18 years working R&D and certification for remotely piloted aircraft and safety-enhancing technology for General Aviation.

Andy Lacher is Senior Principal for Aerospace and Autonomy Research at Noblis where he serves as the Director of their Aerospace Systems Research Center. Andy is a subject matter expert on the safe and secure operational integration of unmanned and autonomous systems. Prior to Noblis he worked with Boeing as the Senior Manager for Autonomous Aircraft Integration. Before that, he was the Autonomous Systems Integration and Adoption Lead for The MITRE Corporation where he worked for 30 years. He has experience with unmanned vehicles, technical standards development, software assurance, trustworthy autonomy, aviation rulemaking, risk assessment, ATM operations, airline operations, and operational decision-making. He has served or is serving on a number of research advisory boards and standards bodies including the National Academy of Sciences’ Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board. He has a BS in Electrical Engineering and an MS in Operations Research both from The George Washington University.

James Wilborn is the manager of the FAA’s Center for Emerging Concepts and Innovation (CECI), an office within the FAA Aircraft Certification Service in the Policy and Innovation Division. The CECI’s mission is to enable the certification and safe introduction of new and novel innovative aircraft and related technologies into the National Airspace. The CECI accomplishes this through education and outreach to potential industry developers on the FAA’s mission, safety objectives, and certification procedures, through early engagement to develop requirements for complex new technical concepts, and through collaboration with other offices in the FAA and with members of the industry to identify and solve cross-disciple operational issues early in the process. Prior to taking on his current role this past April, Mr. Wilborn worked for five years as a manager in the Aircraft Certification Service Transport Standards Branch, managing the Safety Risk Management section and as the Acting Manager of the Transport Standards Branch. Prior to becoming a manger, Mr. Wilborn worked as a senior Aviation Safety Engineer supporting the development and promotion of safety enhancing policies and technologies in transport airplanes. Before starting this role with the FAA in 2006, Mr. Wilborn worked for 17 years as an Aerodynamics Engineer for the Boeing Company. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and Master of Science in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from the University of Washington in Seattle.

Igor Cherepinsky is the Director of Sikorsky Innovations at Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company and line of business within the Rotary and Mission Systems (RMS) business area. Mr. Cherepinsky began his Sikorsky career in 1998 as a flight controls engineer on the BLACK HAWK (UH-60M) platform and has led the development of several vital components seen on Sikorsky helicopters today – such as the advanced autopilot / flight director in production on the UH-60M as well as a Fly-By-Wire system used in many current Sikorsky helicopters. Mr. Cherepinsky then went on to lead a multidisciplinary team that developed the Autonomy Mission Manager software suite − the core of Sikorsky's autonomy – and the S-76 Sikorsky Autonomy Research Aircraft − a development and demonstration platform for the autonomy efforts. In his next role, Mr. Cherepinsky led a successful pursuit for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) Program, which required development of an aircraft agnostic autonomy and digital copilot system. As part of this program, Mr. Cherepinsky and his team demonstrated this functionality on the S-76® helicopter, PA-30 fixed wing aircraft, C-208 fixed wing aircraft, and UH-60 helicopter. Most recently, he was responsible for the development and integration of unmanned and optionally piloted vehicles as the Director of Autonomy Programs at Sikorsky. Mr. Cherepinsky graduated from Brooklyn Polytechnic University and with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering and a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering.